MLB fans react to seeing comparative photo of new and old base sizes: "We have entered the juiced bag era", "Gonna be a lot of stolen bases" 

After a winter full of diagrams, MLB fans got to see their first live image comparing the new base size to the old one on Tuesday. MLB analyst Bob Nightengale posted an image showing a pre-2023 base stacked face-down on top of the base that the major leagues will use going forward.

The new base is going up by a size of three square inches, from 15 to 18. For baseball fans who are not terribly keen on mathematics, Tuesday's photo gave them a great comparison.

The new base size is possibly MLB's least controversial guideline being adopted for games beginning in 2023. Fans' takes on seeing the size differential were mostly humorous, as opposed to the furor over the extra-innings ghost runner rule being made permanent or the confusion over the necessity for the new rules on position players pitching.

For many fans, size does matter.

One thought on many baseball fans' minds was the prospect of stolen base counts going way up in 2023. These included some fairly otherworldly predictions for steals.

Otherwise, most fans took the photo as an opportunity for their wittiest witticisms.

And, well, there's more than a few baseball fellas out there feeling a tad insecure today.

A whole lot of changing going on for MLB

Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. speaks during a press conference at MLB Headquarters on September 09, 2022 in New York City.

In addition to the increased base size, the ghost runner and position player pitching rule changes/extensions, the league is limiting defensive player shifts and instituting a pitch timer for the 2023 season.

League commissioner Rob Manfred called the new guidelines an attempt to “bring back the best form of baseball.”

“Number one, fans want games with better pace,” he said during a Sept. 9, 2022, news conference introducing the planned defensive shift, base size and pitch timer rules. “Two, fans want more action, more balls in play. And three, fans want to see more of the athleticism of our great players.”

In addition to the increased base size, would-be base stealers should be helped by MLB limiting what it calls "disengagements" — a pitcher making a pickoff attempt or stepping off the rubber — to two per plate appearance, with a balk to be called for a third or more unless there is an out. The disengagement limit, which is predicted to greatly benefit baserunners, would be reset for each base a runner advances.